Things Change Ch.04

Chris and Mike walked out of the Chinese restaurant with bag fulls of take out. Walking out of the small restaurant Mike, literally, ran into James. It had been two weeks since he had seen James rushing out of their dorm, Anthony had told him what had happened and thanked Mike for giving him the courage to stand up to James, knowing someone cared about him gave him all the strength in the world as far as he was concerned. 

James had four deep claw marks scarring his face. It looked like they had just finished healing, the scars were still pink and delicate looking. There was no doubt that they were deep and permanent though. Anthony had been worried James would press charges but Mike assured him he wouldn't, he knew he was being abusive to Anthony and wouldn't bring that to the attention of any authorities.

"James, I thought you only ate at five star restaurants." Mike giggled. He could see James' jaw clench in anger. He just growled at Mike and walked into the restaurant. Mike sighed and began walking towards the dorm he shared with Anthony.

"So how are you and your roommates doing?" Mike asked. Chris had been fighting with his roommates lately, they partied to much and didn't take school seriously.

"Ugh They're driving me insane Mike, you have to help me!" Chris pulled on Mikes sleeve. Mike chuckled and put his arm around Chris' shoulder and hugged him.

"It will get better." He laughed. Chris pouted and they opened the door to Mikes dorm. Anthony was walking around the room, his ribs had gotten a lot better recently. He was now able to move and function easily enough. 

"Hey." He said and gave Mike a long kiss. Mike returned it and Chris faked a gag. They separated and Mike smiled at Chris as he plopped down on his bed. 

"We brought food." Mike held up his bag of Chinese. 

"Oooh, you do love me." Anthony sighed and took the bag. Mike laughed and closed the door behind him. The three men sat and watched movies while eating Chinese food. Mike sat on the floor with his legs spread, leaning against the bed. Anthony was sitting between his legs. Leaning into his chest and Chris sat on the bed above the two.

Something kept nagging at that back of Mikes mind about when he had seen James. He was spacing out and wasn't really paying attention to the movie.

"Mike. Mike!" Anthony snapped his fingers in front of his face. He snapped out of his thoughts and looked down at the small man in his arms.

"Wha?" His mouth hung open. Anthony laughed and used a finger to push his jaw up.

"What were you thinking about?" He asked and snuggled back into Mikes arms. 

"Uh, we saw James at the Chinese food place and I've had this weird sense of deja vu ever since." Mike shrugged.

"Weird." Anthony said. Chris snored softly behind them and they both chuckled. 

"Lets go to bed, he can stay here for the night." Mike said and pulled Anthony into his bed and snuggled up with him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

Mike had nightmares about Alex being shot.

He had them often but these ones were different. Anthony was the one shooting Alex and James just kept laughing as the blood flowed out of his still body. Mike kept running towards them but he never got anywhere. He just kept picturing James' scarred face laughing. 

He jolted awake when Anthony shook his shoulders. He searched the room with his eyes franticly and saw Chris staring at them, worried, from Anthony's bed. Sweat dripped down his body and his shirt was soaked. He sighed and fell back on his pillow with his eyes closed.

"It's fine, Chris. Go back to bed." He heard Anthony say. He felt Anthony's clawed hands on his face. Soothing him. Anthony planted a kiss on each of his closed eyelids and Mike drifted off to sleep again.

The rest of his night was filled with the same nightmares and he was relieved when it was morning. Anthony had woken up early and gotten them breakfast and Chris and he were already eating. Mike sat down to join them and there was an awkward silence. The silence was broken by Chris.

"Have you two slept together yet?" He asked while shoveling breakfast into his mouth. Mike choked and struggled to swallow the bite of food he had been chewing. Anthony blushed and patted Mike on the back.

"Uh, no." Anthony said. Chris gave him a questioning look but Anthony just shook his head.

" I'll go get us coffee." Mike said as soon as he was finished choking. He raced out of the room before either of them could say anything.

"Why haven't you two... you know." Chris smiled.

"Hes never been with anyone other then Alex. I think he feels like what he and Alex had was special and he cant share himself with anyone else."Anthony stared at the door that Mike had raced out of.

"Have you two talked about Alex?" Chris asked while nibbling on a strip of bacon.

"A little but not much. Every time I try to talk to him about anything remotely personal he runs off or gets mad at me." Anthony sighed. Chris gave him a hug.

"It will get better. He just needs time." Chris reassured him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

A week after that awkward conversation Anthony finally cornered Mike in their room and forced him to talk.

"Mike I love being with you and I understand that you need time to get over Alex. You might never completely get over him, and I'm ok with that! But you need to at least try. Talk to me!" He begged him.

"About what? I have nothing to say!" Mike shouted back. Anthony's tail flicked back and forth and a low growl was beginning in his throat.

"Yes you do! You wont even touch me, and on the rare occasions that you do you turn that picture around. Alex is dead Mike. He isn't watching us, and even if he were do you think he would want you to be miserable like this? He loved you and he wanted you to be loved! I love you Mike!" Anthony shouted. As soon as the words left his lips Mike pushed him down on the bed. 

He covered Anthony's mouth with his own and their tongues danced. Mike ran his hands up Anthony's slim body and could feel the lean cat-like muscles underneath his skin. Anthony nipped at his shoulder and neck. Mike ran his hands up up Anthony's torso, pulling his shirt up. The pale skin of his stomach contrasted with the sleek black fur that ran down his navel. The trail of light fur continued down into the briefs that he was wearing. Mike reached his hand down and stroked the decent sized erection that was straining against the briefs.

"Mike.... Please..." Anthony gasped and tossed his head from side to side. Mike had his hands pinned above his heads so he could play with Anthony's body freely. He came up from Anthony's hard cock and instead played with his hard nipples. He bit and nibbled at the tiny buds until Anthony was writhing in pleasure.

He released Anthony's hands and Anthony pushed him back onto the bed. He wasted no time in pulling down Mike's boxers and drooling as his dick smacked his stomach. Anthony began stroking Mikes cock and sucked the head into his mouth. For a moment Mike was worried about the sharp teeth that lined Anthony's mouth but when Anthony began to work on his cock he couldn't feel a single one of the sharp teeth. Mike moaned and pushed his dick farther into his waiting mouth. He was on the brink of orgasm when he pulled Anthony up to push his tongue into Anthony's warm mouth. He could taste himself on Anthony's tongue and moaned. 

Anthony put his clawed hands on Mikes chest and scrapped them gently against the skin. Mike hissed with pleasure.

"Damn I love those claws." He muttered he felt Anthony smile against his mouth. He could feel the trails that Anthony's claws made on his chest. Anthony moved his arms back up and hooked them over Mike's shoulder. He could feel the claws kneading at his shoulder blades gently, like a large cat. And then it hit him. Images of Alex's scarred body hit him. The four claw marks that covered the bases of his wings. The large bite marks on his shoulders.

Mike pulled back and examined Anthony's paw. His fingers all had the long claws where his nails should be.

'But Alex only had sets of four claw marks. Anthony still has five fingers.' Mike thought to himself. He remembered James face. The four deep scars cutting a jagged line across his face.

"Why did James only have four cuts where you scratched him. You have five claws." Mike asked. Anthony looked confused and worried.

"When I scratch something my thumb isn't long enough to scratch it too." He answered. His eyes searched Mikes face for a clue as to what he was thinking. Mike looked at his paw again and saw Anthony was right. His thumb was short enough so it wouldn't scratch what ever the rest of his fingers could reach. Leaving four marks instead of five. He released Anthony's hand and grabbed his jaw.

"Open your mouth." He mumbled. Anthony looked surprised and almost scared but did as Mike said. His mouth was filled with sharp teeth and fangs. Identical to a panthers. Images of Alex's tear filled eyes came to his mind as he told him about the fighting they were forced to do when they were in the camps. 

Mike stood and stormed over to his picture of Alex. He picked it up and shoved it in Anthony's face.

"Do you recognize him!?" He yelled. Anthony face held only fear now as he tried to understand what had happened to Mike.

"What? That's Alex." He said. 

"But do you recognize him!" Mike screamed louder.

"No, I never met him until you told me about him." Anthony backed against the wall the bad was against.

"Think harder! You were in the camps weren't you? Weren't you!" He yelled and threw the picture against the wall. The frame broke and the glass shattered.

"Mike you're scaring me." Anthony whispered.

"Think god damn it! In the camps they made you fight other infected didn't they? didn't they!" Mike pinned Anthony to the bed while he screamed at him.

"What how did you-" Anthony's face paled and his jaw dropped when he realized.

"Remember Anthony. Remember a small scared kid with gray wings, and orange eyes." Mike's voice dropped to a low whisper. Anthony's mouth opened and closed as he searched for words. Mike saw the realization on his face and knew it was Anthony who had attacked him. He stood up and leaned on his desk, not looking at Anthony who was still sprawled out on the bed where Mike had held him.

"Mike, I didn't want to they made us-"

"Get out." Anthony was interrupted. 

"But..."

"Get out!" Mike shouted and threw a very large text book against the wall next to Anthony. He turned back to the desk and Anthony could hear his breath come in angry gasps. He quickly scooped up his pants and grabbed a shirt before running out of the dorm.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

Chris walked through the crowd to the front door of his apartment that he shared with his two friends. They partied constantly and he could hardly get any studying done. He weaved his way through the mass of people.

"Drew could you turn down the music?" He yelled over the thumping base of the music. Drew shook his head no before walking off.

'gee thanks' Chris rolled his eyes. He opened the door and saw Anthony standing there. His hair was wet and matted to his forehead and Chris realized it was raining outside.

"Oh my god, Anthony? Are you ok? What happened. Shit, come in." Chris wrapped an arm around him and pulled him through the mass of people until they reached his room. He grabbed a thick fluffy towel and began drying him off. He noticed he was poorly dressed and missing shoes.

"Mike, we were.... " Anthony looked terrified and Chris could see large bruises forming on his upper arms.

"What the fuck? Did Mike do this to you?!" Chris asked. He couldn't believe Mike would do something like this. After he had just gotten Anthony away from his abusive boyfriend.

"Yes. I mean no. It was an accident he didn't mean to." Anthony said.

"You said that about James too." Chris growled.

"How did you..."

"It's not hard to figure out Anthony. Every time you went out with the guy you came back with a new bruise. Mike said you fell down the stairs. Anthony, you live no where near any stairs." Chris rolled his eyes. Anthony swallowed and looked at the ground. 

"It wasn't you're fault Anthony. I just wish you would have told me. I thought I was you're guys friend." Chris shrugged.

"You are." Anthony said and put a hand on his knee. " Thats why I came here." 

"So what happened?" Chris asked. He got up and looked through his closet before handing Anthony a pair of sweats, a shirt, and a pair of socks.

"I confronted him about not talking about Alex. We got into a fight." Anthony said.

"And he hit you?" Chris asked, he just couldn't believe Mike would do that.

"No, he started.... You know. Uh..." Anthony felt uncomfortable.

"Oh.... was he to rough?" Chris asked.

"No it was great, we didn't get far though. All of a sudden he started looking at my hands and wanted to look inside my mouth. He freaked out and started screaming at me about knowing Alex before." Anthony said. Chris listened intently as Anthony changed into the warm dry clothes.

"But you didn't." Chris said. Anthony looked at him with horribly painful eyes.

"I did." He whispered.

"What? And you didn't tell Mike before?!" Chris asked.

"I didn't know I knew him. It was so long ago I just didn't think about it. We were in the holding camps together." Anthony said.

"So you two were like friends?" Chris was confused.

"No, in the camps. They made us fight each other for sport. I... I was forced to fight him. I hurt him really bad, he was just a bird he had no way of defending himself or fighting back." Anthony felt hot tears sting his eyes and he cried into Chris' lap. 

"But...But it wasn't you're fault right. You didn't want to fight him, right?" Chris asked.

"Of course I didn't. But that doesn't matter to Mike. I hurt the guy he loved. I'm a monster." Anthony cried.

"You're not a monster Anthony. You're a great guy. Just give Mike time to cool off and then you two can talk. Everything will be fine." Chris stroked his still wet hair. 

"You can stay here until things cool down between you and Mike." Chris said.

"I don't have any of my clothes or my books or money. I didn't bring anything. He was so angry. He threw a text book at me." Anthony said. Chris was shocked. Mike was always such a laid back and nice guy, he didn't know he had a dark side.

"I'll go get you're stuff. Stay here. I'm sorry for the noise. It's like this all the time." Chris rolled his eyes and slipped on some shoes. 

"ok, thank you so much Chris." Anthony sighed.

"no problem, tony. Go ahead and sleep in my bed. I'll be back in a little while, try to sleep ok?" Chris said as he was walking out the door. When he opened it the thumping music got louder and you could hear the people dancing and talking.

" 'kay." He said, and watched Chris leave.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

"Mike?" He heard a knock at the door and Chris' voice call to him.

He had trashed the room. Chairs were knocked over, the beds had had their sheets ripped off. Books and papers lay scattered on the floor. Along with clothes and other items in the room. He didn't answer Chris and he heard silence for a moment before the door opened. He could hear Chris gasp at the sight of the room. The shattered picture still sat on the floor in front of the door. Chris stepped over it carefully.

"I came to pick up some stuff for Tony. He's staying with me for awhile." Chris said and began picking up pieces of clothing and items he recognized as Anthony's 

"I don't care." Mike whispered. There was a moment when Chris just looked at him.

"He really cares about you Mike. You know it wasn't his fault. They forced them to fight. He didn't want to." Chris said.

"Neither did Alex. He didn't maim and scar someone to the point where they didn't even want to be seen by the love of their life." Mike said bitterly.

"He couldn't, you think if he had been better equipped to defend himself he would have just let the others beat the crap out of him?" Chris yelled. 

"Get his shit and get out!" Mike yelled. Chris picked up the last of Anthony's stuff and headed towards the door.

"He cares about you Mike. If you had any brains at all you would see that. He didn't mean to hurt you or Alex." Chris said, he was met with only silence. He walked out the door and left Mike sitting alone, in a room of shattered dreams.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

" God how can you live here?" Anthony rubbed his temples. He had a constant head ache from the throbbing music and Chris seemed to be unaffected by it.

"You get used to it." He rolled his eyes and handed Anthony a cool rag for his head. Anthony had been staying with Chris for almost a week. He had planned to go back to Mike to talk the night after their fight but when Chris told him what Mike looked like he figured he would give it more time.

"You know you have to go back. I love you, and I don't mind you staying here. But you love him and he loves you, its just hard for him." Chris said. Anthony nodded his head.

"I know." He sighed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

Anthony stepped into his room cautiously. He expected the room to be trashed and ruined like Chris had said it was but it was surprisingly clean. Both beds were made and the desks organized. The clothes Chris had left were put back in their closet. The only thing missing was the picture of Alex that normally sat on Mike's desk. Mike sat on his bed with a book in his hands. He looked up as Anthony walked in.

"Mike..." Anthony couldn't think of anything to say. He set his back down and rubbed his upper arm uncomfortably.

"I'm sorry. I was angry." Mike said. 

"I know.... I swear Mike if I had remembered I would have told you." Anthony said.

"I know you would have. It wasn't your fault. They forced you to fight." Mike said. He set his book down on his empty desk.

"Whered your picture go?" Anthony pointed to the desk.

"It was ruined, the glass from the frame ripped it up." Mike said.

"I'm sorry." Anthony said.

"It's alright. I need to move on and I cant do that if I feel like hes watching me all the time." Mike said. They both sat uncomfortably on opposite sides of the room. 

" He will always have a special place in your heart, Mike." Anthony paused. "I just hope theres room in there for me too." He added quietly. Mike stood from the bed and walked over to Anthony and wrapped him tight in his arms.

"There is, I love you Anthony." Mike said.

"I love you too, Mike." Anthony smiled and felt tears of joy fall from his cheeks onto Mikes shirt. Their sweet embrace was cut short by a knock on the door. Anthony wiped away his tears and looked at the door.

"I told Chris I wanted some time to talk to you alone, he wouldn't show up now." Anthony said, his eyebrows furrowed in curiosity.

"I wasn't expecting anyone." Mike said and let Anthony go to answer the door. He opened it and nearly went into a fit of rage when he saw Ethan standing there.